When Personalities Collide
by Muggle Jane
Summary: What happens with two strong personalities in one enclosed space? Written for Hyaci for the HPFC Christmas Fic Exchange


**A/N: I sure wish these characters belonged to me, but they don't! Written for Hyaci for the HPFC Christmas Fic Exchange. Happy Holidays!**

It was bound to happen, with two people with such strong personalities living in close quarters. There was yelling, there was stomping, two slammed doors and then the unmistakable sound of glass shattering at high velocity, as though it had been thrown against something.

The other three occupants of 12 Grimmauld Place exchanged a look between them. "I wonder what he did this time?" Ginny asked, her voice hushed as though she was worried about being overheard.

"Same thing he does every time," Harry replied. "I wonder sometimes if he does it on purpose, just to get her riled up."

"No one is that mental," Ron breathed, shaking his head.

The four of them had accepted Harry's godfather's invitation to move in when they were all finished with school. Ginny and Harry wanted to live together, something her mum wouldn't allow under her roof, and Ron wanted some place he could have friends or girls over without constant parades of, meet the parents.

And Hermione, well, she wanted unlimited access to the rather extensive library. What she hadn't counted on was the hours she spent fuming in her room. Hours. Plural. More than one, because that _man_ was insufferable. Strutted around like he was the best thing since the quill was invented, always with an answer for everything, whether he was invited into the conversation or not.

She took a deep breath, settling on her bed and rubbing her temples with both hands. He didn't have to let her live there, she told herself. _And I don't have to stay._

That was it. That was the only way she was going to be able to keep her sanity. She was going to have to move out. She'd miss her friends, of course, but it wasn't fair to keep subjecting them to the rows with Sirius that were getting more and more frequent as time passed.

Today had been... She jumped to her feet, gathering up her belongings and tossing them angrily into the small, beaded purse that she still carried everywhere. Today had been about him not putting his shoes away properly, of all things. She'd tripped over them for the third morning in a row and had reminded him that other people lived there and one of these days someone was going to actually get hurt. That's where it had started. It had ended, predictably, with him accusing her of being a bossy know-it-all. Because that's where he always ended up, every single time they argued.

She didn't even know why it bothered her so much. What he said to her wasn't anything she'd never heard- and ignored- before. Maybe it was the way it always started innocent, playful, flirtatious even, and she was always taken in. He knew just the rights words, just the right glances, and then, inexplicably, every single time, he pushed it too far. And then there was yelling and a very strong desire to hex him within an inch of his life. Every. Single. Time.

But not again.

She knew she was going to regret not packing carefully later, but right now she just needed to be out of there. When everything was safely tucked away in her bag, she threw open the door and stormed down the stairs to where her friends were clustered around the kitchen table with the remnants of their breakfasts. They wore matching looks of concern.

"Sorry," she apologized, a guilty flush in her cheeks. "I'm... It won't happen again."

"It's fine," Harry assured her. "Really. He likes winding you up."

"Well, it won't happen again," she repeated flatly. "I'm going to stay at the Burrow for just a while and then I'll get my own place." She was sure Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would let her stay. They'd told her time and again that their door was always open and now she was just going to take them up on it.

"Hermione, you don't have to," Harry said. "I'll talk to him."

"No," she replied quickly. "No. We've already forced this on you enough. I'll just... Well, I won't be far. And I'll owl when I have a new address." She smiled a sickly sort of smile and left quickly before anyone could say anything else. She was, if she was going to be completely honest with herself, a little worried about living alone. She'd never been alone. School, her parents every summer, and then that time spent on the run with Harry and Ron. She liked the quiet, but what if it was too quiet?

Once outside the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place, she apparated to The Burrow.

* * *

It was _quiet_ in her new flat. Even with Crookshanks to keep her company, it seemed to echo with emptiness. She'd stayed at The Burrow for a grand total of two-and-a-half days before she'd found somewhere a little more permanent to live. Permanent and _quiet_.

Which was why the knock at the door cheered her a little, even though it was 9:00 at night and she was trying to wind down for the day.

She went to the door and opened it, and was completely shocked to see the raven-haired Marauder, looking sheepish and holding a bottle of her favorite wine. "I've been sent to apologize," he said.

"Well, you can save your breath if you're just here because you were told to apologize," she snapped, already pushing the door closed.

He caught the door as it swung toward him and pushed it back open. "Wait, Hermione. Please wait."

It was the 'please' that caught her attention. She folded her arms across her chest and stood in the doorway, looking up at him, waiting. "Well?" she prompted after a moment.

"I'm sorry. And not just because I was told to be sorry, I'm..." His gray eyes caught hers and she could see the honesty in them. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to chase you out."

"Why, Sirius? Why were you picking at me? Why were you so insistent on winding me up?"

He took a deep breath and flashed her that dazzling smile that always caught her breath, whether she wanted it to or not. "Because you're so incredible all riled up. Your eyes flash and your cheeks get all flushed and... Merlin, Hermione."

She had to look away from the intensity in his gaze. Flushed, she was flushed now. "Won't you come in?" she offered after a moment, her voice a little higher than usual.

He gave her another one of his heart-melting grins and followed her into her flat. It was neatly organized and covered in books, so very Hermione. "Have a glass or two?"

She pulled out her wand and conjured two goblets. In short order, they were settled in the sitting room with a goblet of wine apiece. Crookshanks padded in and immediately settled himself on Sirius' lap. After a while, he spoke. "The library misses you."

"I miss it too," she replied seriously.

"It's very lonely without you there."

"There are three other people living under the same roof as you, Sirius," she replied quietly, tracing a finger around the rim of the goblet.

"Yes, but you're not there."

"Well, then the house is practically empty," she teased, carefully studying her wine, but there was a touch of bitterness in her voice. She didn't want him to see the vulnerability she was sure would be in her eyes.

"The best part of it is gone." She looked up at him again, expecting to find him laughing at her, or some other hint of this great joke, but his face was absolutely serious. He was studying her, his face open and guileless. "Come back with me, Hermione."

"Why would I do that?" she asked. "No one else will argue with you?"

"I can't promise we won't ever argue. But I can promise this." He spilled the large orange cat off of his lap and leaned his long frame across the sofa until his lips brushed against hers. "I won't rile you up on purpose anymore," he whispered, his face so close, his eyes taking up almost her entire field of vision. "Please come back."

She found herself nodding before she even realized it. "It's too quiet here," she admitted softly, her warm brown eyes locked with his. "But you need to stop leaving your shoes in the middle of the floor."

He laughed, a deep, rich sound that seemed to caress her very soul. "I'll try."


End file.
